


Why Does Tiki, The Largest Manakete, Not Simply Eat The Others?

by Benfrosh



Series: A Dragon Among Heroes [2]
Category: Fire Emblem Heroes
Genre: "why does the guy with the pain staff heal people" he's skilled on both ends okay, Gen, also lucina is chrom and robin's kid here for drama, grima is offscreen doing laundry duty with olivia as punishment for roughhousing, lucius team medic, talkin about kinda dark stuff so i tagged it teen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-01
Updated: 2018-12-01
Packaged: 2019-09-05 07:45:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,520
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16806400
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Benfrosh/pseuds/Benfrosh
Summary: Lucina, after being thrashed by Grima in a practice duel, is filled with dark thoughts about killing the fell dragon. Then she wonders - why haven't they?





	Why Does Tiki, The Largest Manakete, Not Simply Eat The Others?

Lucina held back a grunt of pain as the tingling sensation of Lucius's healing magic crawled up her arm. Despite all her training sessions in her home timeline, she never was quite able to get used to the feeling of being healed after a particularly vicious sparring session, and it somewhat disappointed her that other worlds' healing was just as unpleasant.

"I'm terribly sorry, Lady Lucina," Lucius mumbled apologetically. "Just hold still a bit longer... and there," he finished, lowering his staff and wiping the sweat off his brow. "Try moving your arm now."

Lucina tentatively flexed her arm, rotating it gently. It felt good as new once more, despite the thrashing she had just received. "Thanks, Lucius. It's set back in now."

"Oh, what a relief. Lady Grima can be altogether too rough in practice, in my opinion. I swear half the training injuries I get are caused by her!" Lucius added chidingly.

Lucina waved him off. "I was the one who pushed her in the first place. Don't worry about it."

"Are you sure? I've been meaning to talk to Lady Tiki-"

"Don't." 

Lucius paused and saw Lucina's hardened far off stare. He knew better than to press any further. "Very well. I have other people to attend to, so if you'll excuse me..."

Lucina made no response, only continuing to stare into the middle distance as her mind raced with dark thoughts.

* * *

Tiki technically had no official role in the Order of Heroes. The younger Tikis were fiercer in combat than her, and were the ones regularly deployed. She did not train anyone, or have any official administrative role. Somehow, though, she seemed to end up doing as much work as anyone else did. Her years of life experience made her an expert counselor for the younger humans, her connection to Naga gave her lots of ability to help the other dragons in the order, and her being Tiki helped her babysit Tikis. It was this last task that occupied her now, as she watched the three Tikis in her care running around playing a game of tag in the castle gardens.

"Tikiiiii! Tiki tried to light the roses on fire again!" came a shout from one of the large bushes.

"Remember, if you burn it you have to replant it!" Tiki shouted in reply. A loud groan from the bushes confirmed that she was heard loud and clear, and she laughed. She could always take advantage of how unwilling they were to sit down and concentrate on something.

"Lady Tiki? Is it okay if I interrupt?" 

Tiki turned her head to see Lucina behind her. "Of course! Come sit with me, I'm just babysitting," she said grinning, patting the empty side of the stone bench she was resting on.

Lucina turned to look at the rustling bushes the Tikis were running through. "Um. In private, if you don't mind."

Tiki attempted to wave off Lucina's concerns. "They won't say anything, and they're all me. We'll keep your secrets."

"It's about Grima."

Tiki's smile hardened. "Ah. Has she done-"

Lucina quickly shook her head. "No, not like that. I just- can we continue this elsewhere?"

Tiki looked back at the playing Tikis, who seemed to be paying no attention to Lucina. "They'll be fine for a while on their own," she concluded, standing up from her bench. "Let's go further into the garden - there's a pagoda we can talk at. No one should be there right now."

Lucina nodded and followed Tiki closely behind as they left to discuss the elephant in the castle.

* * *

"So," Tiki said, breaking the silence as they rested on the pagoda's bench. "What's the issue? My policy still hasn't changed."

"I know!" Lucina shouted angrily, taking Tiki aback. She quickly composed herself and refocused. "I know. I agreed when she arrived here - we all did. We weren't supposed to harm her, and we were to do everything we can to help her integrate into the group."

"That's right. What of it?"

"It's just... she's wearing my mother's godsdamn skin, Tiki." Lucina's anger faded away, replaced by an exhaustion in her voice. "Every time I see her, I see that horrible future. So many people dead. My _parents_."

Tiki could make no response.

"And yet... I could still put up with that. I've put up with so much worse. I just have to know why. Why you're putting so much effort in a genocidal murderer."

Tiki paused to collect her thoughts. "I don't know if this will help, but - that's not your mother. She only looks like your mother, but just like how the other Tikis aren't me, she isn't your mother. Remember that. Your mother is okay and happy with Chrom. You made that happen. Everyone is alive now."

Lucina took a deep breath. "You're right it's just - these memories..."

"They're never going to go away. I know. But you risked everything, and you fixed _everything_. You can't forget that."

"Okay. ... Okay." Lucina focused intensely on trying to breathe. "Okay, but. I still need an answer. That doesn't excuse the fact that Grima is an _attempted_ genocidal murderer. Why her? Why do you protect her?"

Tiki thought. She decided it was time to tell Lucina. "How many dragons do you think there are? In our home world, I mean."

Lucina blinked in surprise. "Um, a couple thousand probably? Aren't they all living in hiding?"

Tiki laughed. "That's one way to say it. The actual number is five."

"Five thousand?"

"No," Tiki said, shaking her head sadly. "five. Naga, me, Nowi, Nah and Grima."

"Wh- how? What killed them all? Aren't dragons supposed to be the most powerful things in the world?"

Tiki laughed hollowly. "They are. And that's what killed us all. One day we just... got too powerful. We lost the ability to have children. Our minds crumpled under the weight of the power, and we started going insane. That's why I have this," she said, taking out her dragonstone and tracing her finger over it. "It keeps my power contained, so I can live somewhat normally. If I were to stay a dragon, I'd go mad just like the rest of them. Now I live in a human form, with this draconic power."

Lucina, who was horrible at hiding her emotions as Tiki had learned, had despair and confusion written all over her face. "But... Nowi..."

"She was the last dragon ever born. None of us had ever tried breeding with a human before, so I'm glad to see that worked, but it's inevitable that the dragon blood will wear down over time. Look at Julia - dragon blood runs in her veins but she's no dragon."

Lucina's mouth fell agape. "Surely there has to be some way to fix this! We can't just... it can't..."

Tiki smiled. "That's what's carried me and Naga forward all these centuries. There are thousands of dragons still trapped under the Dragon's Table back in our world. They've all gone mad, and one of them, Medeus, reached out to corrupt the mind of someone - Gharnef - and convince him to revive the dragons and purge the world of humanity. He had been a manakete, but eventually grew consumed by his power into his draconic form and could not return. But we've been trying our best to find a way to save them all from themselves."

Lucina paused in thought. "... but... that sounds just like..."

Tiki nodded. "It's exactly like Grima. And everything about Grima played out the same, with one exception."

Dawning realization passed over Lucina's face. "She possessed a human form."

"The only one to do so without sealing her power in a dragonstone. Ever. She's lived for over thousands of years without it, she has gone through the degeneration and gone psychotic, and she's found a way to control herself again. Medeus couldn't - when he was released he went on a rampage. Present Grima couldn't - when she was released she went on a rampage. But Future Grima, in Robin's body, was in full possession of her faculties. She still is. By the gods, she's _forming relationships_ with humans. She might be the key to saving the fate of dragonkind. Our last hope."

"... you've been holding this back? We could have..."

Tiki shook her head. "There was nothing you or the others could have done. This is a dragon problem and we dragons are going to solve it. But," she added with a smile, "I have appreciated your help with taming Grima once more. It'll make her more amenable to study once we begin the project in earnest."

Lucina could make no response. Instead she reached around and pulled Tiki into a hug, surprising Tiki in the process. "By the gods..." she whispered. "I had no idea."

Tiki smiled. "Don't worry about it. It was-"

Lucina shook her head. "I know the feeling of losing everyone you love. I'll do anything I can to help you save your people. I promise."

Tiki let out a sigh of relief, feeling some of the invisible stress on her shoulders disappear. "Thank you, Lucina. That means the world."


End file.
